Canelo Alvarez to defend boxing title live on Netflix in September

Boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez will return to the ring in September to face undefeated Terence Crawford in a bout streamed live on Netflix.

The battle for the unified Super Middleweight title will take place September 13 in Las Vegas, according to a news release from the Saudi Boxing Federation, which is promoting the match in partnership with UFC chairman Dana White.

“I’m super happy to be making history again and this time on a Riyadh Season Card that will be broadcast on Netflix,’ Alvarez said in the release. ‘On September 13, I’m ready to show once again that I am the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.”

Alvarez will take a 62-2-2 record into the fight. Crawford is 41-0 with 31 knockouts. 

The bout comes roughly 10 months after Netflix rode a wave of massive public interest in its production of Jake Paul’s unanimous decision over Mike Tyson last November, which tallied upwards of 65 million streams.

However, Netflix’s first foray into live boxing also suffered from a rash of technical glitches that drew widespread frustration and criticism from viewers.

The streaming giant also pulled in another 65 million combined viewers on its two NFL broadcasts on Christmas Day 2024. But perhaps more significantly, the glitches that plagued the Paul-Tyson bout were largely corrected.

Netflix’s says its live coverage of Alvarez vs. Crawford will be available to its more than 300 million worldwide subscribers at no extra cost.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY